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Anyone read the latest 4WD&SU Magazine?

763 views 8 replies 2 participants last post by  **DONOTDELETE** 
G
#1 ·
The Jeep on the cover of the June 2000 4WD&SU magazine has some interesting mods.

First, it has two power steering coolers. Does power steering fluid get so hot it needs two coolers. I figured they may be necessary if it was plumbed into a hydraulic winch, but this vehicle uses electric.

Second, the floorpan was cut out and welded 5" higher. Wouldn't this cause a loss of leg room and quite possibly headroom if you're tall enough. The article said the reason for raising the floor was to raise the t-case and tranny as high as possible for clearance. But wouldn't this make the drivetrain from engine to rear t-case output extend upward? And if so, this would make the rear driveshaft angle extremely sharp.

Third, the body is mounted on inflatable air bags which can body lift the vehicle 5" when fully filled. I thought of this idea once, but after installing several body lifts, I couldn't figure how it could possibly work. Wouldn't the steering shaft or radiator fan shroud bind up at all? These parts need to be readjusted when doing a body lift so how could they adjust automatically with airbags.

Fourth, it has a reverse cut Dana 30 from a Cherokee, BUT it has 5x5.5 hubs. I thought Dana 30s from Cherokees, Comanches, and Wranglers were all 5x4.5. What kind of Cherokee has a 5x5.5 that will swap into a Wrangler YJ?

Fifth, the vehicle has an Atlas t-case and a Klune V crawler box. Is this Klune something that bolts onto the end of the Atlas making the rear driveshaft even shorter?

And lastly, it has a springover steering system. What does that mean?

I'm thinking about how to turn my YJ into something extreme so I've been researching every aspect of EVERYTHING. I do need to keep it a daily driver however. Is this cover Jeep a daily driver?

-Dorian
88 YJ w/ factory paint
 
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G
#2 ·
I think I can answer some of your questions. This vehicle had the I4 engine. The fabricator used weldable engine mounts and moved the whole drivetrain forward. This made a longer rear driveshaft. He filled this space with a Klune V box(it fits between the trans and x-fer case), allowing him lower gear ratios. Moving the drivetrain forward most likely caused the mods to the floorboard. Pretty neat way to make a 4 popper more desirable in a Jeep(the I6 or a V8 would be to long, the small size of the I4 allow for the movement forward, next time you see an I4 look at all the room between the fan and front of the engine). I tip my hat to the designer of this 4x4.

This jeep isn't a daily driver, it is a competition rockcrawler, read not street legal. No front windshield, no flares and probably too many other road infractions to list.

The spring over steering is used to clear the spring in a SOA application under full compression. Several companies make a kit to do this to a Dana 30 front.

The reverse rotation Dana 30 is probably original to this Jeep. Warn makes heavy duty hub conversion that uses the 5 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern. It requires a total new brake setup that is sold by Warn as well.

Can't help with the body lift question, but remember this is not a street legal Jeep. Imagine even having a small fender bender with an air bag body lift setup. Even some of the 3" lifts have caused the mounts to rip off the body(sheering forces from the stilts). It would probably be even easier to rip off the mounts with the air bags.

Hope this was some help

 
G
#3 ·
You are talking about the Tri-County Gear jeep. If I remember correctly, it has Warns Coil-Over suspension kit. It has a custom cross-over steering system to keep all the steering geometry aligned, but this is very different then a spring over steering setup.

The Air bags are not on the body, they are on the frame and the control arms for the coil over kit, so when inflated, they move the axles away from the frame
allowing driver controlled adjustments.

Jim O'Brien
rkcrawl@tidesys.com
My jeep page
 
#4 ·
The two power steering coolers are needed to keep the beefed up AGR unit from overheating when turning the 35" tires on rocks with no forward momentum. The knuckle over steering, they are using is very close to the steering mod they offer as a kit for about $1100, but they used a custom track bar. The 5 on 5 1/2" is a Warn conversion Kit. The airbags are not for bodylift, but as mentioned in the other post,adjust between the frame and suspension. the klune V is another gear reducer, to further lower the gear ratio. That is a very well engineered rig, and perfromed very well, but more importantly, Jason Bunch is a great driver, and squeezed every bit of performance from the rig to take 5th in that group.

Jeff
89 Wrangler
If at first you dont succeed, your replacement will try and try again.
 
G
#5 ·
Any time you run hydraulics[power steering] there is alot of heat.
when you Have the big tires and rough ground the PS is working hard.
Some of your HD pickups have PS oil coolers to and your really looking at
mainly just a street truck.
 
G
#7 ·
Let me get this straight. The Warn XCL this Jeep has already provides 6" of suspension lift. Then when the airbags are inflated, it generates another 5" of suspension lift. Is that right? 11" of lift? Of course it wouldn't have as much flex, but gees!

And about the Klune V. Is there anything that can be done to a NP231 to get a better than stock crawl ratio?

-Dorian
88 YJ w/ factory paint
 
#8 ·
I have been running the TeraFlex conversion for over a year,(Tera Low 4.0:1). It replaces the entire front case of the NP231 with a much beefier cast aluminum case, and replaces the 3 planetary gear set up with a 5 planetary set up, at the same time I installed Tera Flex's "2 WD Low" shift mechanism and Curries Slip yoke eliminator and a new heavy duty chain drive. I have had no problems with the set up through some of the nastiest trails on the planet. But if you start figuring up the price to do all these conversions, you will find yourself temptingly close to the cost of an Atlas II, plus you could sell your NP 231 to recoupe some of the costs.
Tera Low Kit $1000
2 WD Low Kit $200
SYE Kit $400
HD Chain $100
TOTAL = $1700
Atlas II 3.8 gears = $1900 4.3 gears = $2200

Jeff
89 Wrangler
If at first you dont succeed, your replacement will try and try again.
 
G
#9 ·
I cannot say for certain, not having personally viewed the Jeep, but I've seen several of the air bag designs in jeeps, and it seems to me that the intent of the system is NOT to add more lift, but rather to use the lift that is there in an off camber situation.

The warn kit has 6 inches of droop, then if engaged the system would use up 5 of those 6 inches, not ADD another 5 on top. The best way of imagining it is to think of the jeep crossing a side hill. ideally, the uphill suspension would be compressed, the downhill drooped so as to maintain a level platform. With long travel rigs (or rigs in general) this does not happen, and the rig becomes tippy because the 2 sides either reacte the opposite way they should or not at all. In this scenario, the driver of a rig with air bags would air up the downhill side, FORCING it to droop and the uphill side to compress, leveling the rig. In other words, he uses the air to level the rig, using up some of his existing travel to do so.

This is what I get out of it, anyway.

Chad

 
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